The next morning...
Clover woke up from her sleep. This was the best sleep she had in a while. She woke up feeling refeshed and safe, she didn't wake up to her father's shouting.
She sat up and stared at the direction of the window. She wondered what the time was and why they didn't wake her up. Maybe it was because she was pregnant that they showed this immense kindness to her.
She slept in Levi's room while Levi slept on the couch. She was touched by his kindness; from the risk of bringing her in, giving her dinner and allowing her to sleep in his room, added with that he hadn't asked her one question about herself. He just wanted her to feel at ease and be comfortable before throwing questions at her.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the light knock on the door.
"Good morning." He greeted her with a smile. "I hope you slept well?" He walked towards her and wanted to touch her forehead to see if she had a fever but she flinched like he was a tiger trying to devour her. Levi noticed her reaction and withdrew his hand then went to open the windows.
"What's your name?" He asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"Clover." Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"Nice name. I'm Levi and the twins are Reginald and Rebecca."
"You should get up and take a shower. I've brought some clothes for you." He dropped the clothes on the bed for her. "When you're done, you can have breakfast." He smiled at her once again then turned around and left her alone in the room.
.
.
After taking her shower and dressing up, Clover walked cautiously to the direction of the kitchen. The house was quiet, which made her feel weary.
Finally, she made her way to the kitchen where she saw Levi preparing a sandwich with juice for her.
"Where are the twins?" Her voice was still feeble and Levi could feel she was scared.
"You can calm down and take a seat." The house was built in a way that the kitchen and dining were in the same space.
Clover pulled a seat from underneath the table and sat down.
"They left earlier to help around the neighborhood. As you can see, we don't have parents so we have to provide for ourselves. Some people just hire them to do some odd jobs around the neighborhood and pay them." He brought the sandwich in a small flat plate along with the glass of orange juice and served her.
"Thank you." The feebleness in her voice had dissipated. She immediately picked up the sandwich and bit into it.
"It's delicious." Levi smiled and then went to get his own.
As Levi took a seat opposite her; she knew that he would start asking questioning her.
"Where are you from?" She gulped down the food that was in her mouth and then took a sip from her glass.
"I can't tell." She replied.
"Okay then. Since you don't feel comfortable talking about it with me, then you'll be able to tell the police what happened because from the looks of it, you are a victim of abuse."
"No!!" He was a bit taken aback by her reply.
"They'll take me back there." She started sobbing.
"Where?" The memory of her father's house had triggered her PTSD. She started crying more seriously.
"To him, that monster!!" She said shivering in fear of the memory alone. Everything she went through kept on flashing in her head and for a moment she couldn't discern what was real from what was not.
Levi panicked and got up from his chair, rushing towards her to calm her down.
"We won't take you back there, I promise." He hugged her. Clover sat still, not making a sound, which made Levi a little scared.
"I'll tell you everything about me but please... I want to live here. I don't want to go back, please." She pleaded. "I don't want to go back." She lowered her head and sobbed.
"I promise that I won't take you back. You can stay here, you're my family now." Even with uncertainties, he still chose to help her. He could understand how she felt but he couldn't relate, he hadn't gone through the things she had gone through.
"You should finish eating. We'll talk about this at your own pace." He let her go and then went to sit down back on his chair.
"The man you're referring to, who is he?" Levi asked.
"My father. Although at times I question if he truly is my father." She looked down at her pregnant belly.
"So, that means the child you are carrying is his?" She just nodded to his words.
"Wow..." That was such a dark twist. At first he just thought her parents had probably sent her out because they found out she was pregnant.
"I'm so sorry to hear that."
"Your age?" He asked.
"I'm fifteen years old." Levi knew she was young, her physique said it all but he wanted to believe that looks could be deceiving. What kind of father would impregnate his fifteen years old daughter?
That she means she was just three years older than the twins.
Such a man deserved to be hanged and only God knew the mental trauma she had suffered.
"How about your mother?" A sad smile appeared on her face.
"I don't know. She left when I was eight." She took the last bite of her sandwich, then gulped it down with a sip from her glass of orange juice.
"Since then I never saw her again."